January 19, 2000

Hundreds of Sherlock Holmes fans gather in Manhattan to celebrate master detective on his 146th birthday; gathering, organized by Baker Street Irregulars, has been annual rite for more than half a century; irregulars claim that Holmes and his friend and narrator, Dr John H Watson, were actual people, and that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was simply Watson's literary agent; photo (M)

Scaled-down 'Star Wars' anti-missile system suffers serious setback as missile fired from Marshall Islands in Pacific fails to hit mock warhead fired from California in critical test of first fully integrated system of radars and sensors intended to guide interceptor to target; Defense Dept will carry out final test in spring to show that system works; Pres Clinton will decide by summer whether to deploy it to shield US from missile attacks by potential adversaries (M)

Microsoft Corp delivers legal arguments that it hopes will stave off adverse antitrust ruling, taking issue with Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's conclusions about case and restating many arguments that he has already rejected; Microsoft's 70-page conclusions of law, sent to Jackson and published on its Web site after stock market closed, contends that case law does not support either government's charges or judge's findings of fact, published in November; filing does not directly assail Jackson (M)

Russian forces battle way toward center of Grozny as struggle for control of Chechnya's capital enters even fiercer phase; seek to fracture rebel defenses and seize heart of city; maps (M)

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column discusses plans of new New York Jets owner Robert Wood Johnson IV (M)